


Collateral

by Ordered_Chaos



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Angst, Bees, Domestic, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Human Castiel, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-19
Updated: 2016-10-19
Packaged: 2018-08-16 15:06:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,336
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8106916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ordered_Chaos/pseuds/Ordered_Chaos
Summary: The bees are dying. Cas is inconsolable, but Dean tries anyway.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I got this idea after reading these two articles: [ this one on CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2016/09/01/health/zika-spraying-honeybees/) and [ this one from the Washington Post.](https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2016/09/01/like-its-been-nuked-millions-of-bees-dead-after-south-carolina-sprays-for-zika-mosquitoes/)  
> I hope you enjoy!

Dean brought their coffee back to bed. Cas usually wouldn’t get up unless he’d had at least one cup, which suited Dean fine, because it meant every day started out with the two of them lying close together, pretending the world would never call for them.

Cas had his phone out when Dean pulled up the covers and slid in beside him.

“Anything good?” Dean asked dryly.

Cas liked to check the news when he woke up. Dean didn’t get it, because it was usually just depressing things like body counts in war-torn places, or something similar. He’d asked Cas once why he bothered to check the news, but Cas had just said that he liked to stay in touch with the rest of the world. Dean didn’t get that either.

Cas dumped his phone on the comforter and rolled over. Dean got one look at his face before Cas was burying it in the pillow. It was stricken, devastated, and Dean all but threw the coffee mugs onto his bedside table, splashing a bit onto the wood. He pulled his chest against his husband’s side and wrapped his arm over him.

“Cas, what’s wrong?”

He peered over Cas’s trembling shoulder to the phone. The headline he saw was not the news of mass destruction he’d been expecting.

‘Millions of Bees Dead in Bug Spray Accident,’ the headline declared in bold, unforgiving letters.

“Oh, Cas,” Dean murmured. He felt Cas take a sobbing breath and held him tighter. “Hey, it’s okay.”

He didn’t really understand Cas’ fascination with bees. But it was one of the hundreds of mysteries that had drawn him to his angel in the first place. And Dean would do whatever he could to protect Cas from anything that could hurt him this much.

“They’ll recover. There’ll be more bees. They’re good like that.” He rubbed soothing strokes over Cas’ back, his throat thick from listening to his tears. “I know it sucks. It always sucks when stuff like this happens. They didn’t ask for this. And they’re so important to you. What if you get your own bee farm? In the backyard. Then you know your bees would always be safe. ‘Cause you and I would protect them. They’d be the safest bees in the world, Cas. I promise.”

Cas took a shuddering breath and shook his head into the pillow. He sniffled and whispered, “It’s not that.”

“What is it?” Dean asked, leaning close to press a kiss to Cas’ shoulder. His skin was still warm from sleep.

Cas coughed a little. “It’s—everyth-thing.”

Dean gripped his arm and pressed his cheek to Cas’ back. “Everything?”

Cas shivered, his breath coming in little hiccupping gasps. “I’m sorry, Dean,” he said. “I’m…ruining your morning.”

“Shut up,” Dean told him gently. “What’s another cold cup of coffee?”

Cas laughed weakly, lifting his head from his pillow to wipe his nose.

“Tell me what’s wrong, angel,” Dean begged him, nuzzling against Cas’ shoulder. “Let me help.”

“There’s nothing you can do, Dean.” Cas was making an effort to sound stoic, unaffected. But his voice was still gritty with tears. “We should get up.”

“Not a chance,” Dean said.

Cas started to roll over away from him, and Dean let him pull back. He knew how Cas hated to feel trapped. He turned onto his side to stare at Cas, who sighed, scrubbing a hand over his damp face.

“It’s stupid,” he muttered.

“How many times have you told me it’s not?” Dean asked. He laid his hand between them, a silent offer for Cas to take. He did.

Cas swallowed, watching their twined hands. Dean gave his fingers a gentle squeeze. New tears dripped across Cas’ nose.

“It’s—everything,” he managed, his voice choked. Dean longed to pull him close, but Cas had drawn in on himself. “It’s not just…the bees. The stupid bees.” He gave a sharp, angry laugh, closing his eyes.

Dean soothed his thumb over the back of Cas’ hand. “They’re not stupid,” he told him. “You care about them.”

Cas shook his head and the whole bed rocked. He pulled his hand away, folding it against his chest. “Too much.” He tucked in his jaw and drew in a tight breath.

Dean pulled himself close again, draping one arm over Cas’ shoulders and holding the other above his husband’s head until Cas lifted it enough for him to slip it under. Dean pressed them close together and touched his lips to Cas’ forehead.

“I love that you care so much,” he murmured. “I love that about you, Cas.”

He gave another of those sharp laughs. “I don’t.”

Dean pulled him tighter. He reached back for the blanket, drawing it up over their shoulders. Eventually they would get too hot, but for now this was perfectly cozy.

“I hate it,” Cas said into Dean’s chest. His words were muffled.

“Hate what?” Dean asked, breathing in the scent of his hair.

“Being collateral in God’s plan.”

Dean frowned. “Hold up. I thought we were talking about bees.”

“Them, too,” Cas said. He fisted a hand in Dean’s shirt and pressed his forehead under Dean’s chin, cocooning himself between Dean and the blanket. “All of us. We don’t matter.”

Dean rubbed a circle on his back, wanting to comfort, but unwilling to lie.

“There’s so much… so much _shit_ that happens in the world,” Cas said angrily. Dean felt more hot tears soak into his shirt. “I can’t stand it.” His voice broke, and his shoulders heaved again.

Dean pressed his chin into the top of Cas’ head. “I know,” he said, because that was all he could say. He wasn’t gonna deny that that world was messed up. He knew it better than most. Him and Cas both.

“No one is _safe_ ,” Cas said, and his voice was a raw plea, a prayer, something that deserved to be soothed.

Dean held him tighter. “We protect the people we can,” he said gruffly.

Cas hunched over more, and Dean’s eyes burned in response to his renewed tears. He swallowed hard so Cas wouldn’t realize. He did anyway.

Cas lifted his head. His nose was running and his cheeks were a blotchy red, streaked with tears. His blue eyes were just as brilliant, but contrasted with the bloodshot lines around them. Nevertheless, he dragged a hand up from the depths of the blanket and wiped away the single tear that fell from Dean’s eye.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Dean pulled him close again, trapping Cas’ arm awkwardly above him. “Shut up,” he said. “I’m doing the comforting.”

Cas laughed gently, squirming until he could rest his palm against Dean’s face. They stared into each other’s eyes, and Dean wondered if the sky blushed when Cas looked at it. He was so beautiful.

“Did you mean it?” Cas whispered. Dean had no idea how much time had passed, that they’d just been staring at each other, basking in each other’s warmth.

“Probably?” he said, smiling and tracing a finger through one of the wet lines on Cas’ face, wiping it away. “What part?”

Under the remnants of his tears, Cas gave a small, bashful smile. “A bee farm here?”

Dean grinned, leaning down to brush their lips together. “If that’s all you need to be happy, angel.”

Cas smiled softly and pulled the blanket up higher. “The coffee’s probably cold.”

“And we weren’t even doing anything fun,” Dean teased, tucking the pillow more comfortably under his head.

“Well, not yet,” Cas said, kissing Dean again. They laughed softly together, mere huffs of breath that they shared in the warmth of their bed.

“No more news in the morning for you, okay?” Dean asked after a long, cozy while. “It’s not worth it.”

Cas sighed, nuzzling them closer and dancing his fingers down Dean’s arm. “Alright,” he agreed. He looked up, and Dean bent for a kiss.

The coffee was quite cold by the time Dean finally went back to the kitchen for more.


End file.
